the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not, and she was slain by the mythical demigod and hero Perseus.

A ghoul is a desert-dwelling shapeshifting demon that can assume the guise of an animal especially a hyena. It lures unwary people into the desert wastes or abandoned places to slay and devour them. The creature also preys on young children, drinks blood, steals coins, and eats the dead,[6] taking the form of the person most recently eaten.

The Ördög is often thought to look somewhat like a faun: usually pitch-black, with hooves, horns, and a sharp pointy tail. He dwells in the underworld or hell (Pokol in Hungarian) constantly stirring a huge cauldron filled with souls. In case he wanders in the real world, he takes the form of a fox, a dark flame or Hungarian shepherd with dark, sparkling eyes. It is his habit to make bets with humans to see if they become corrupted.[citation needed] In some Hungarian folk tales there are more than one ördög.

Basilisk – Euro and N. Africa This animal is born from an egg that lays an old cock just before his death a clear night and full moon exactly at midnight. Within a few days, the egg shell, which is not hard, but rather soft and leathery, is opened by the strange creature that already has all the features of an adult: legs, beak, cockscomb and reptilian body. Apparently this strange creature has an intense and penetrating fire in its eyes that at the animal or person who gazes directly upon it would die. The weasel is the only animal that can face and even attack it. It can only be killed with the crowing of a rooster so, until very recent times, travelers were carrying a rooster when they ventured into areas where it was said that the Basilisks lived.

The water horse is a common form of the kelpie, said to lure humans, especially children, into the water to drown and eat them. The water horse would encourage children to ride on its back, and once its victims fell into its trap, the water horse&apos;s skin would become adhesive and the horse would bear the children into the river, dragging them to the bottom of the water and devouring them—except the heart or liver. A common Scottish tale is the story of nine children lured onto a kelpie&apos;s back, while a tenth kept his distance. The kelpie chased the tenth child, but he escaped. Another more gruesome variation on this tale is that the tenth child simply stroked the kelpie&apos;s nose but, when his hand stuck to it, he took a knife from his pocket and cut his own hand off, cauterizing it with wood from a nearby fire. The child saves himself but is unable to help his friends, as they are pulled underwater with the kelpie.

As the &quot;Washer at the Ford&quot; she wanders near deserted streams where she washes the blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said that mnathannighe (the plural of bean nighe) are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are doomed to do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended.A bean nighe is described in some tales as having one nostril, one big protruding tooth, webbed feet and long-hanging breasts, and to be dressed in green. If one is careful enough when approaching, three questions may be answered by the Bean Nighe, but only after three questions have been answered first. [1] A mortal who is bold enough to sneak up to her while she is washing and suck her breast can claim to be her foster child. The mortal can then gain a wish from her. If a mortal passing by asks politely, she will tell the names of the chosen that are going to die. While generally appearing as a hag, she can also manifest as a beautiful young woman when it suits her, much as does her Irish counterpart the bean sídhe.

a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of three animals: a lion, a serpent and a goat. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake&apos;s head,[1] the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhonand Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term chimera has also come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals.

Leshy is the protector of all animals and birds in the forest. Mass migration of animals supposedly happens at leshy&apos;s instruction. He is said to have the ability to shapeshift into any form, animal or plant. When he is in human form, he looks like a common peasant, except that his eyes glow and his shoes are on backwards.In some tales, he appears to visitors as a large talkingmushroom.[citation needed] He can also vary in size, shrinking himself to the height of a blade of grass when moving through open fields, or growing to the size of the tallest trees when in the forest.Leshies are terribly mischievous beings: they have horrible cries, and can imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers and lure them back to their caves, where the leshies will tickle them to death; they also remove signs from their posts. Leshies aren&apos;t evil: although they enjoy misguiding humans and kidnapping young women, they are also known to keep grazing cattle from wandering too far into the forests and getting lost.

TikbalangTikbalangs are said to scare travelers and lead them astray. Tikbalangs play tricks on travelers such that they keep on returning to an arbitrary path no matter how far he goes or where he turns. Supposedly this is counteracted by wearing one&apos;s shirt inside out.[3] Another countermeasure is to ask permission out loud to pass by or, not to produce too much noise while in the woods in order not to offend or disturb the tikbalang.